Murano Real or Fake

Green Murano Obelisk

When we first started collecting Murano Glass pieces it was a real learning curve.  We made some mistakes.  Some mistakes can be expensive.  Fortunately we wised up pretty fast.  There are some glaring differences between real Murano and fake Murano.  The best way to know the difference is to get books on Murano and study.  We have a library full of all sorts of reference books on everything that we are interested in collecting.

The first thing to realize is that not everyone is as honest as you would like them to be.  There are people out there who make it their business to deceive.  There are also people who resell glass who have been deceived themselves and pass on the pieces as real because they do not know better.  If you want to collect Murano glass arm yourself with knowledge.

"Dior" bottle by Ercole Barovier, 1960's.

Italy

The most glaring difference between real Murano and the fake Chinese Murano glass is the colors.  Murano glass colors are more subtle not as bright as the Chinese stuff.  Look for honest wear on the base.  The pieces should not be overly heavy, unless they are larger heavier pieces to begin with.  Not everything that has a sticker that says made in Murano was actually made there.  The stickers on the older pieces should look old they are paper backed foil stickers.  For the most part the fakes have a lot of clear glass near the bottom.  Sometimes the fancier the item the more likely that they are fakes.  They are even copying Dino Martinuzzi.   You are best off buying from reputable dealers.  Just because you have seen an item in a book does not guarantee that it is legit. If you are tempted inspect the piece for age related wear.  If it seems too good to be true beware. See  if you can get a return guarantee that will bide you time to check it out.  Think carefully before you buy.

Here is the first paragraph of an article about fakes in Venice.....

ROME — Italy's financial police seized on Friday more than 11 million glass objects that were being sold in stores in Venice as artisanally-blown Murano glass, even though most of them were made in China.

There is also a book called Murano Magic that list all the signatures and the companies that the artist worked for.

Be careful of people writing about how to avoid fakes.  Unless you know the vender and have faith in them beware.

Here at Lewis Trimble we like to help educate the buying public....Buy with great care.